Melting The Ice
by etmuse
Summary: Will Alex and Isabel finally find happiness? Part of the 'Roswell Lives' series.


Title: Melting The Ice  
Rating: T  
Summary: Will Alex and Isabel finally find happiness?  
Disclaimer: If I owned Alex, I would NOT be wasting time with fanfic...

* * *

Alex Whitman opened his suitcase and looked round his room. Holidays were nice, but it was always good to be back in good old Roswell. He and his family had just returned from spending two weeks of Spring Break in Sweden. They had travelled around a bit, and met lots of wonderful people. Alex in particular had enjoyed a great time. He'd managed to pick up a lot of Swedish from the friends he'd made around the country. He had a list of names, with phone numbers and addresses, as long as his arm, because, being the friendly guy that he was, he had managed to rope himself into keeping in touch with almost all of his new-found friends. He was certain that he'd be just about fluent in Swedish within a year, as they had all promised to continue teaching him as well as they could. Alex pulled a bag of dirty clothes out of the suitcase to put in the laundry basket and smiled. Then there was the decision he'd made. A decision that had made a lot of difference to how much he had enjoyed the holiday.

He'd finally decided that it was time he got over Isabel Evans. He had to make an effort to get on with his life, and to that end, had thrown himself into the holiday fun whole-heartedly. And it had worked, to a degree. He'd managed to keep his mind off Isabel at least 60 of the time, a major improvement. He only hoped that he could continue this now he was back in Roswell, and he'd see her occasionally at school, which started again in just two days…

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Isabel Evans pulled a book out of her locker and turned around, nudging it closed with her shoulder. Expecting to see Alex Whitman watching her from his locker down the hall, she looked over to spot him…and didn't. She couldn't see him anywhere, which surprised her. He'd watched her nearly every morning for over the past year, since he'd found out about her, her brother Max and their friend Michael's secret. They had even been quite close for a while, at the end of the previous school year. So it was a bit of a shock that this morning, the first morning of school no less, he wasn't there. She glanced around the rest of the hallway, wondering if perhaps he'd realised she knew he watched from his locker and had decided to go somewhere else. He was nowhere to be seen. Isabel ignored the spark of disappointment this understanding triggered. She couldn't actually he upset that he seemed to have stopped watching her. It wasn't as if she _wanted_ him obsessing over her…

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Alex walked jauntily down the corridor towards his first class of the afternoon. He hadn't seen Isabel all morning, and had even managed to push her from his thoughts a few times. This afternoon wouldn't be as easy. Out of three classes, he shared two of them with Isabel. It would be a test of his resolve, but he was determined. He simply could NOT spend the rest of his life controlled by Isabel Evans. He couldn't. It would be so much easier if he had Liz and Maria to help him, but with Liz away at school in Vermont, and Maria pursuing her music career in LA, he had only their 'from-a-distance' support. He had talked to Maria just the night before on the phone.

"_Yeah, Sweden was great. I met some really cool people there. Learned a whole bunch of Swedish from some of the friends I made"_

"_Sounds great. I'd love to go somewhere like Sweden."_

"_You'd love it. The people there are so friendly. I had a brilliant time."_

"_Yeah, you sound a lot happier than you have for a while."_

"_I made a decision while I was there. I've spent too much time mooning over Isabel Evans. I need to start trying to get on with my life."_

"_Good for you!"_

"_It's not gonna be easy though. Since I made the decision, I've been away from here, away from her. Tomorrow when school starts again, I'll be around her all the time."_

"_You're just gonna need to hang tough. I know it'll be really hard, but just remind yourself of how miserable your life will be if you don't do it."_

"_I know. My whole life this last year has revolved around Isabel, and that just isn't healthy. I really need to do this."_

"_Stay strong. You know it's for the best."_

Alex walked into his class and took a seat next to the window. He stared resolvedly at the view (the rather boring parking lot) while the rest of the class, including Isabel, strolled in and found seats. A few minutes later, just as the bell rang, the teacher hurried in, sorting a few papers on his desk in preparation to start the class. When he spoke, Alex tore his gaze from the oh-so-exciting scene outside the window and glanced momentarily around the class. Isabel had taken a seat a few rows across, behind where he was sitting. Alex sighed in relief. It would surely be easier not to look at her if she sat out of his direct line of sight… As the class drew on, Alex determinedly kept his gaze to the front, concentrating more than was strictly necessary on what the teacher was saying. Anything to keep his mind from wandering to the forbidden subject of Isabel…

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The first week back at school drew on, and Alex kept up his new decision to stop letting his life be ruled by Isabel Evans. He had only faltered once, when his gaze had been unexpectedly caught by her swishing her long hair next to her locker one morning, but he had quickly caught himself, and despite trying to watch him from the corner of her eye, Isabel didn't notice him looking at all. As the days progressed, Isabel found her mood getting lower, although she tried not to connect this with the lack of attention she was receiving from Alex. She _had_ found herself watching him a lot more than usual. Watching him _not_ watch back.

Finally, on Thursday night, after watching Isabel become more and more downhearted for several days, Max decided to question her about it one night at home.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing, just the usual stuff, you know."

"Then why have I watched the smile slip further and further off your face with each passing day?"

"You're imagining things Max. All these months without your Liz Parker fix is showing."

"I'm not imagining it. Even Michael has noticed." Max knew this would get to her, since they both knew how obtuse Michael could be when it came to emotions and feelings.

"It's nothing, honestly."

"Izzy, I know you. I'm your brother remember. What's bothering you isn't just nothing."

"It really isn't anything major, it's just…Alex."

"What about Alex?" There was concern in Max's voice. He considered Alex a friend, and didn't want anything bad to happen to him. "He's looked fine at school. Is there something wrong with him we don't know about? Is…"

"Slow down. Nothing's wrong with him. He's fine. Seems to be doing great, in fact. Maybe that's what's bothering me."

"I don't think I'm following here."

"It's just…Alex has always watched me, when he thought I wasn't looking, you know? He'd stand there just looking at me from a distance."

"Yeah…"

"Well, since we got back, since he went off to Sweden with his parents, he, well, hasn't. I don't think he's even seen me more than a few times all week. And that's only been a cursory nod of acknowledgement if we pass each other in the hallway."

"And you're missing the attention."

"I guess. He's always watched me, and it feels strange that he suddenly isn't. I don't know why it's bothering me so much though."

"Maybe its because Alex means more to you than you think."

"Of course he means a lot to me. He's helped save our lives on numerous occasions. He's been a good friend in times of need. But that still doesn't explain why I miss him staring at me in the corridors." Max just looked at her meaningfully. "I guess him watching always made me feel kinda special, that there was someone out there who knew who I was and liked me anyway."

"I think he means more to you than that. You and Alex were pretty close Izzy, I know you had strong feelings for him back then, and I don't think they've just left."

"That was nearly a year ago Max. And I think I'd know if I was harbouring secret feelings for Alex."

"I'm not sure you would. Not if you had decided they weren't there. And I think the fact that you miss him paying attention to you means there are still a lot of feelings there." Isabel looked over at her brother. He looked sincere, and maybe he knew what he was talking about. Max had gone through a lot with his feelings for Liz, trying desperately not to love her for a long time, even before he learned of his supposed 'destiny'. She turned introspective, and tried to examine her feelings. She really did miss Alex's attentions, and the more she thought about it the more she realised that it couldn't just be that he had been there. When she thought back on all the times Alex had been there for her, and all the things he'd done for her, a soft glow started in her heart. Ok, he was special. He always had been, really. Isabel raised her gaze and met her brother's eyes again.

"Maybe you're right. I miss him. And I don't just miss having someone admire me. I miss him because he's always been the only one who can really make me feel good about myself. He's seen the worst in me, been on the receiving end of a lot of crap from me, and still he's been there, caring for me…until now." Isabel ended in a dejected tone. "Now it's like he just suddenly decided he didn't like me anymore, and I don't know what to do about it."

"Talk to him. Tell him what you've just realised. Listen to what he has to say. But be prepared that maybe its too late. He's been waiting around for you a long time Isabel, maybe he decided enough was enough."

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When she turned up at school the next morning, Isabel quickly grabbed the things she'd need out of her locker and headed over towards Alex's, intending to wait for him and talk. She leaned against the locker, and waited…and waited…until the bell rang and she had to go to class. All morning she watched for him in the hallways, only once catching sight of him walking in the opposite direction and the other end of the corridor. She searched for him again at lunchtime, checked out all the places he had often frequented over the years to no avail. She rushed to make it to her first afternoon class early, in the hope of catching a couple of words to him before class started, but he didn't walk in until seconds before class began and her opportunity was lost.

During class, she watched him surreptitiously. To her dismay, he looked happy. Happier than he had looked in quite a while. His trip to Sweden had obviously agreed with him. A sudden thought crashed down into her brain. He'd met someone else while he was on holiday. That must be it. The reason he was looking so much happier, the reason he'd stopped watching her all the time. Isabel felt like a dark cloud was obliterating hope. If only she hadn't waited to long to wake up to her own feelings. If only she hadn't pushed him away all this time. It was ironic. She'd just realised how much he meant to her, and now she would never have him. Isabel told herself not to be so fatalistic. Maybe he hadn't met anyone. Maybe he was just happy…for some other reason completely unrelated to romance. Hopefully…

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After spending a weekend doing nothing but think about Alex, Isabel was even more determined to talk to him when school came around again Monday morning. She found herself running around the school a lot, trying to find him and catch a few moments to say a few words to him. The few times she managed to catch him he seemed determined to head in the other direction, or he didn't seem to hear her, or he just shot her a harried look and hurried off. It looked like Alex was purposely ignoring her, and Isabel didn't like it one bit.

Alex walked that afternoon feeling incredibly proud of himself. He felt better than he had in months, and he thought he might finally be getting over Isabel. Yeah right. He'd seen her hanging around near his locker in the morning, and hadn't been able to just go over and act like it didn't make any difference if she happened to be close by. He may have managed to push her from his thoughts most of the time, and, apart from that one slip, stop staring at her, but he still felt much more for her than he wanted to. She had been everywhere today and Friday. Not sure he could handle actually talking to her much yet, he had avoided her, but a part of him was hoping that perhaps she was actually seeking him out for a reason, although why that would be he had no idea.

That evening, he made his regular weekly phone call to Liz, to catch up on what was going on at school in Vermont, and keep her up-to-date with Roswellian goings-on. After chatting generally for a few minutes, Alex brought up the Isabel situation.

"You've spent too long waiting for her. I'm proud of you that you're sticking to your decision to work though it and get over her."

"It's hard though, you know? Especially being in classes with her at school."

"I can sympathise with that…seeing someone you care about every day and having to make yourself stay away"

"And today and Friday were even harder. She was everywhere. Every time I turned around, there she was. It was almost like she was following me or something. It's hard to ignore someone when they keep popping up around you."

"Are you sure that she _wasn't_ following you?"

"Isabel Evans? Following me, Alex Whitman? Like that's ever going to happen."

"I'm serious. Maybe you not paying her attention has finally woken her up and she's discovered she's crazy about you."

"I think you're being a little too fairy-tale there Liz. Things like that just don't happen in real life. No, the Ice Princess doesn't feel that way about me anymore, if she ever really did in the first place."

"Don't just dismiss the idea Alex, stranger things have happened." Alex just scoffed at that, and changed the topic.

If only it was true though

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Wednesday morning Isabel walked into school determinedly. After yet another day of Alex avoiding her yesterday, she had come up with a plan. He was going to talk to her whether he wanted to or not. She looked at her watch. She had purposely turned up early at school this morning so as not to miss him. She lurked at a corner, watching carefully as a few people milled past her. After several minutes, she spotted Alex. He was sauntering along, not paying particular attention to the people around him. Isabel knew this was her chance. She dived at him, grabbing him by the wrist and pushing him into the nearby eraser room before he had a chance to protest. Releasing his arm, she turned around and used her powers to lock the door behind them. When she turned back around to face Alex he looked shell-shocked.

"Isabel, what's going on? Is there some 'situation' that I need to know about or something? Cos…"

"No. Nothing like that." Isabel interrupted. Alex looked even more confused.

"Then why are we here? Something must be up."

"I wanted to talk to you, but you've been ignoring me all week."

"No I haven't," Alex lied, "I've just been busy, that's all."

"Yes, you have. And I want to know why."

"Why what?"

"Why have you suddenly started ignoring me? You don't even look at me anymore." Alex sighed. So she had noticed. He was a little surprised, since she hadn't paid any attention to him at all over the last year.

"It's not that I'm ignoring you."

"Then what is it?" Isabel paused. "You met someone didn't you?" Alex was baffled.

"What do you mean?"

"You met someone else in Sweden. You did, I know it. It has to be that. Why else would you…" Isabel babbled.

"I met lots of people in Sweden. I don't think I'm following you." Alex said over the top of Isabel's continuing jabber.

"I mean, you met someone in Sweden. A special someone. Someone you care about…the way you used to for me…" Isabel's voice trailed off as she finished her sentence. Alex stared at her in disbelief. Maybe Liz was right. It seemed that Isabel Evans, Ice Princess, was actually jealous that he might have met someone else.

"What if I did? Why should it even matter to you?"

"It well," Isabel looked away, a slight blush tinting her cheeks, "It just matters."

"Not good enough Isabel."

"Ok, I'm jealous all right? I miss you paying attention to me. I guess I didn't realise until it stopped how good it made me feel about myself."

"So this is a selfish thing? You liked having a puppy-dog admirer to follow you around."

"No! That's not it!" Isabel cried. "I miss…I miss _you_" Alex turned away slightly.

"The reason I've been avoiding you all week is that I made a decision in Sweden." He turned back around to face her. "I've spent a long time longing after you Isabel. It's practically taken over my life for a year now, and I decided that was enough. I decided it was time I got over you." Isabel's face fell.

"And there's no chance you'd reconsider that decision?" Isabel sounded close to tears.

"I've been hurt by this before Isabel. It would take a lot for me to change my mind."

"You won't even think about it?" Isabel asked in a choked voice. Alex tried to steel his resolve, but he hated seeing Isabel upset.

"I'll think about it"

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Isabel went about her classes that morning feeling better about herself than she had in a while. There was a bounce in her step that had been missing. That afternoon, when she walked into her first class, her eyes were fixed on Alex, who slouched in his chair looking thoughtful. In the classes they shared that afternoon, she noticed him stealing a few glances her way contemplatively. She knew there was a long way to go to get him to forgive her behaviour towards him for the last year, but she was determined to see it through, now she knew how she felt about him.

Alex thought of nothing else all day. Part of him was yelling to go for it, this was what he'd been longing for all year. The other, greater, part of him, was warning caution. She had gotten close before, only to freeze him out and cause him a lot of heartbreak. He just didn't know what to do.

He was still caught up in his internal turmoil when school let out at the end of the day, so when Isabel suddenly appeared next to him it took him by surprise.

"Isabel! Where did you come from? What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to ask if it would be okay for me to walk home with you. I know I asked a lot of you this morning, but I've been thinking today. Maybe we could just spend a little time together, as friends, before you decide. Get to know each other, properly." Alex was startled by this speech, and couldn't formulate anything more complicated than,

"Sure you can walk with me."

"What about the rest…you know, getting to know each other as friends?" Alex took a moment to think about that as they started to walk. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He and Isabel had never really spent a lot of quality time getting to know each other. And if they spent some time together as friends, there was less chance that, should he decide to go for it, he'd come out hurt in the end. He looked over at Isabel, who was walking quietly beside him, waiting pensively for his answer.

"I think I'd like that. We never did that before." Isabel sighed with relief, and relaxed as they strolled down the street side by side.

"So…" Isabel eventually ventured, "what did you think of …"

They walked in companionable conversation until the point where they had to part to head towards their respective houses.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll bring that CD I was talking about."

"Great." Isabel and Alex took off in opposite directions, smiles on their faces and sparkles in their eyes.

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Friday night, after another two days where Isabel talked to Alex at lunch, debated music, movies and more as they walked home, and opened up to Alex more than she had in all the time he'd known her, Alex got a phone call from Liz.

"Hey, what's up?"

"It's good to hear you sounding so cheerful." Alex could hear Liz's smile over the phone.

"You'll never believe what's been going on…"

Alex spent the next several minutes filling Liz in about Isabel's sudden change of heart, and her behaviour towards him since she had cornered him in the eraser room. Liz sounded worried when he finished.

"I don't want to see you get your heart broken again Alex."

"I know. I don't want to be heartbroken again either. But I figured that getting to know each other as friends might help in that."

"Perhaps." Liz still sounded worried.

"I'm being careful not to get my hopes up too much. But I do feel like I know her so much better already. I think we needed this, whatever happens. But I'm not going to rush into anything. Don't worry about me."

Despite numerous assurances from Alex that he would be cautious, and not let his heart get broken, Liz still sounded a little anxious when they finally hung up. Maria, on the other hand, was excited by the most recent turn in events.

"Oh my God. I can't believe it! The ice princess is actually opening up and submitting to being well known geek and all around nice guy Alex Whitman's friend?" Alex could practically hear Maria hyperventilating in her excitement.

"Yeah. We've talked loads over the last couple of days, and she's talking to me about things she'd never have done before. I don't want to rush into anything, but it's really nice to see this side of Isabel."

"I'm so excited for you Alex. Maybe it will finally work out after all."

"Maybe, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much. For all I know she could have forgotten all about me again by tomorrow, but I hope not." Alex told her, realising that no matter how hard he tried, his hopes were already a little raised.

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Several weeks passed. Isabel and Alex grew closer all the time. Isabel spent more time with Alex now than she did even with Max and Michael. She was also happier than she'd been in a very long time. She'd always known, in some part of her that Alex was a great guy, and fun to spend time with, but now she was sure. As she lay in bed one night, she remembered the absolutely shocked look on his face when, after he had finished telling one of his outrageous stories, she actually started giggling. She smiled at the memory. He had promised that he would never reveal even to her brothers that Isabel Evans had done something so uncouth as giggle. In return, she had promised never to tell anyone about his secret love of Britney Spears. Nothing more had been said about what she privately called his 'Swedecision', but things were going so well between them, she had to hope.

Across town, Alex was lying in bed pondering the same thing (although, perhaps surprisingly, he wasn't thinking of it with a silly nickname like Isabel). Isabel really did seem to want to keep spending time with him. He was discovering the hidden Isabel Evans, and he liked it. For the first time ever, he wasn't just obsessed with her, he actually _liked_ her as well. Even Liz had stopped worrying about him, as he told her of things he and Isabel had done together (minus the giggling of course, which had not passed his lips to another soul). She wasn't exactly encouraging him to get into a more-than-friends relationship, but she wasn't _discouraging_ him either. As the days and weeks had passed, he had slowly come to realise that, despite the decision he'd made in Sweden, he would never be able to fully get over Isabel. Especially not now he knew her as well as he did. Now that he knew the _real_ Isabel Evans.

The next day, when he met Isabel at school, Alex had made up his mind. He had a determined look on his face when Isabel walked up to him.

"What is it? You've got something on your mind." She said without preamble, noticing the set look on his face.

"I…umm…I suppose I do. I have to talk to you about something."

"That sounds ominous." Isabel ventured cautiously.

"Come on." Alex said, starting to walk slowly. Isabel fell into step beside him. "Over the last few weeks, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I think you know what about." Isabel nodded slowly. "It's a big decision. One I'm kind of scared of making…I got hurt before, and I needed to work out if it was going to happen again."

"Alex, you know I…" Alex held up his hand and Isabel fell silent.

"I've really enjoyed spending time with you these past weeks." Isabel's face fell, this didn't sound promising. "And I feel like for the first time, you've actually let me get to know you, the real you. And well…" Alex paused and looked over at Isabel. "Knowing you like I do now, I think I was kidding myself that I'd ever be able to stick to the decision I made at spring break." Isabel stopped dead, her mouth falling open. She grabbed Alex's hand and pulled him to face her. Her eyes were shining with a joy he'd never seen there before.

"You really mean…?" Alex blushed slightly.

"Yeah. I like you Isabel. And we get along so well, don't you think?" Isabel just stared at him in delight. "So after a lot of deliberation… Isabel, would you go out with me?"

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A few days later, Isabel stood in front of the mirror, checking her appearance one last time. Alex had just arrived, and they were headed out for dinner at a little restaurant on the edge of town. She opened the door to Alex, who she thought looked better than ever.

"Isabel. You look…" Alex let his expression finish the sentence. Isabel reached out and took his hand and stepped outside with him. After quickly yelling to let her parents know she was going, she closed the door behind her and smiled at Alex.

"Your chariot awaits milady" Alex declared, leading her to his car.

They ate a delicious meal, but they were enjoying each other's company so much they would have probably had a great time no matter what the food was like. Several hours after sitting down, they settled the bill and headed back out to the car to drive home.

All too soon Alex pulled up outside the Evans' house. Isabel lingered, not wanting the evening to end.

"I had a really good time with you tonight Alex."

"Me too." Alex looked over at Isabel and their gazes locked. As if under a spell, they slowly leaned towards each other. Isabel let her eyes flutter closed as Alex's lips softly met her own.

THE END


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